September 17, 2013

Palestinian Parents opting for Israeli School Curriculum

In an article published on September 13, 2013, Why Some Palestinians Want to Learn Like Israelis,The Christian Science Monitor exposes how Palestinians in east Jerusalem are torn between their commitment to an ideology that rejects any accommodation to the reality of a unified Jerusalem under Israeli control and their desire to provide a better future for their children. According to David Koren, adviser on east Jerusalem to the Jerusalem mayor, Nir Barakat:

''The Palestinian Authority, Fatah and Hamas may oppose this but parents know that the future of their children is in Israel... In a series of meetings with us, parents requested having the option of the Israeli curriculum. People were paying 12,000 shekels ($3,430 dollars) for private courses to prepare their children for Israeli universities and they asked the mayor, why not open a track within the school?''

While Palestinian officials continue to demand unswerving obedience to their political agenda, some parents place a higher priority on a better education and more prosperous future for their children.